How to Stay Healthy as a Sales Person

To be a sales person, you do not really need any training, and you do not need to look after your health; both physical and mental.

However, to be a top performing sales professional you need to stay on top of your sales training, keep abreast of new techniques and skills, and to ensure that you keep on top of both your physical and your mental health. By implementing these elements, you will see an increase in your sales that will only benefit you, your business, and your family.

Think of yourself as a professional athlete. The moment you stop training, stop eating well and start ingesting every alcohol and drug on the planet then you will soon start to drop down into the amateur leagues, or even worse.

In this short article, allow me to share with you my top 6 tips for you to remain healthy as a sales professional.

All of these tips will help you to not only remain physically healthy, but mentally healthy too! Both of these in theory work hand in hand with each other and by using these tips, you will see your sales increase without a doubt.

First things first, remember to eat well. It is really easy to get stuck into fast food options, snacks and sugary foods and drinks when working in sales. Let’s face it; working in sales requires us to work long hours, in a stressful environment and at times, we face hours of boredom (normally when driving up and down the country for appointments etc). We can also see bouts of comfort eating too when we lose a sale! However, in not eating right we are only going to cause ourselves long-term damage by not giving our bodies the nutrients and minerals that we need to live. Plus, you need to be giving your body a nice amount of energy that can help you perform for a long period of time, and not just on a quick bit of a sugary caffeine boost. The easiest way to think of this is to consider your body as a fire. Sure, if you want a fire to burn you can easily chuck on kindling and petrol to help the fire get going and to give you a quick bit of heat; but without any larger logs or sustainable bits of fuel this will soon burn out. However, stick some large logs on there and all of a sudden, the fire will burn brighter and warmer for a longer period of time. So although I am not suggesting to go out and eat yourself to death, consider what foods you are putting into your body and how they will benefit you in the long term. Although sugary snacks, sweets and other treats are very appealing they are by far the best option for you.

Another thing to consider is to always remain hydrated. Once again as we discussed before, it can be easy to always reach for the sugary drink, the cup of coffee or the fruit juice perhaps – but all of these contain sugar and can dehydrate you even more. Water of course is the best option for you to remain hydrated. Did you know that just a 5% drop in your body fluid levels can lead to a drop of 25 – 35% in energy levels; it does not take a lot for your body to get to this stage. So sure, enjoy a cup of tea or a Coke from time to time but be sure to keep water on your desk or in your car and stay hydrated to be able to perform as a top sales professional.

Staying active is one thing that many of us sales professionals neglect as we get deeper into our careers. We see time as a precious commodity and we would much prefer to spend time on money making activities as opposed to doing exercise. But this can lead to disaster. Not only could you put on excess weight (meaning you will no longer fit into those killer suits you own) but you could also be causing harm to your cardiovascular system which in the long term will have negative effects on your body but also in the short term will stop you from performing at your best. The best thing to do in this case is to set time aside each day to exercise. You do not need long; half an hour a day is better than nothing. And you do not need to go to join a gym or to start wasting money on supplements and other nonsense you are sold. Walking, running, cycling, doing body weight exercises at home are all activities that you can do to keep your body ticking and to ensure you remain at the peak of your fitness. Without your body you cannot sell; so do not neglect it.

We all have a motivation in life, and we all have a reason why we do what we do. It is rare to meet a sales professional that works in sales just for the sake of it. We all go to work for a reason; whether that be to provide for our families, or to enjoy a long career. Whatever your reason for working remember it and never forget it. As Dolly Parton says, we should not work so hard for a living that we forget to live. Our why will remind us as to why we do what we do; so those days when your knuckles are dragging on the floor and you feel like quitting allow your why to pick you up and to carry you forward.

A great way to allow this to happen is to set goals. The majority of us only set goals once a year as new year’s resolutions. But these soon fail and get forgotten about. However, one thing you will notice between successful sales people and those not so successful is the use of goals. If we set goals and targets, then we have a motivation for us to continue pushing forward and to keep doing what we do. Your goals do not have to be far-fetched and you should in no shape or form ever feel ridiculed for your goals. After all, they are your goals! Goals will help you keep on the straight and narrow and to ensure that your mental health has a road to travel along with you, especially during the tough times.

This is by far the best tip you could ever have as a sales professional; rest! Without rest you will only shut down both physically and mentally and you will be as useful as a chocolate teapot. One thing I say to all of my sales training clients is that we live in a world where we put our phones and computers higher on our priorities than we do our minds! What do you tend to do when your phone or computer starts to lag, slow down or even crash? You turn it off and on again; right? So do the same for you. If you feel that you are under-performing and need some time out do not feel guilty for doing so. Turn off for a bit. Switch off and hideaway and recharge. You owe it to yourself. In doing so you will come back refreshed and will come back ready to sell anything to anyone!

These six tips are my top 6 ideas to help any sales professional to perform at their best. Do you agree with me? Which is your favourite? Get in touch and let me know!